The Climate Group: China world leader in clean energy investment

The clean energy industry is now a US$250 billion facet of the world economy, with China, the US and Japan leading the global renewables race, research by the Pew Charitable Trust has revealed.

The report, Who's Winning the Clean Energy Race? 2013 Edition highlighted that 87 GW of new clean power were introduced in 2013, bringing total international capacity to 735 GW.

For the first time ever, solar energy surpassed wind as the most popular renewable power source, with a 29% increase bringing total solar power installations to 144 GW.

However, the report also recognises that overall clean energy investment declined by 11% in 2013.

Renewable energy markets in developing countries are experiencing significant growth with a 15% increase in clean energy investment in 2013, the research shows.

China was world number one for clean energy investment, due in part to significant increases in wind and solar power. The Asian nation attracted US$54.2 billion in 2013 which resulted in more than 35GW of new renewable power generating capacity. The Asia-Oceania region also expanded and is now worth US$102 billion.

One of the biggest success stories was Japan, who in 2013 became the fastest growing market in the world with an 80% increase on 2012 investments. Investment in the Japanese solar sector soared to US$28 billion, accounting for close to 30% of total G-20 solar power.

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